Field
The present invention generally relates to identifying remote computing systems in a mobile environment. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and computer program products for using proximity sensing systems, such as Bluetooth low energy (LE) beacons to uniquely identify remote computing systems, such as point of sale terminals.
Related Art
Mobile devices receive transmissions from Bluetooth low energy devices (referred to herein as “Bluetooth LE beacons”). Bluetooth LE beacon communications are unidirectional, i.e., only “broadcasting” or “advertising” but never receiving information back from any mobile device that receives the transmissions. Typical Bluetooth LE beacons use periodic and continual broadcasts (or “advertising”) of data packets to communicate with nearby devices. These data packets are typically only approximately 31 bytes in size, with only 28 of those bytes usable for data. Once a mobile device receives the data packet, it can extract the data and either directly use the data, or send the data in a query to server to get back additional data.
The Bluetooth LE beacons may be associated with other devices (i.e., remote computing systems), and consumers, merchants, and/or other entities may desire identifying the associated devices during a transaction. For example, in a mobile commerce environment, any of the entities may want to identify a point of sale (e.g., a specific checkout lane within a multi-lane store) for the purposes of tracking performance, monitoring usage, or identifying trouble spots. A consumer may use an application that uses the identity of a point of sale to find discounts that may be applied to a purchase. A bank or card payment scheme may use the identity of a point of sale to isolate trouble spots, where transactions are frequently declined or where fraud occurs. Bluetooth LE beacons may broadcast data packets with any of the aforementioned information, or may include a unique identifier associated with a particular device. The unique identifier may then be sent to a server to retrieve the information associated with that device.
One technical challenge exists because mobile devices may receive transmissions (e.g., broadcasts) from more than one Bluetooth LE beacon at a time, and thus cannot identify which particular remote computing system is associated with which Bluetooth LE beacon. Bluetooth LE beacon signal strengths may vary depending on the transmission power, distance to the mobile device, and environmental factors such as device orientation, obstructions within the signal path, and/or radio interference, such that a mobile device cannot use signal strength alone to identify the device associated with the Bluetooth LE beacon.
It would be preferable to have a system, method, and computer program product for using proximity sensing devices to resolve the ambiguity between multiple transmissions to uniquely identify the associated remote computing system.